With Guadalupe and Dolores, the two youngest Coronado
brothers, shot and buried in distant Snelling, California in April 1868, the
two older brothers, Rafael and Loretto, now lead a somewhat quieter life in
Napa.
Rafael Coronado,
49, is listed as a "saloon-keeper" in the City of Napa when the
census is taken on 5 July 1870[1]. This may have been a polite euphemism for a
return to his earlier career of keeping a disorderly house, as the census
records note unblushingly that a 24-year old prostitute was also living in the
household at the time. His personal
property is valued at $1,000, presumably fixtures and stock for the saloon. Living with him are Victoria A. Coronado, 48,
presumably his new wife, and Francisco Coronado, 21, who "tends bar". Both were born in Mexico.
Since neither
Victoria nor Francisco were living in the household with Rafael ten years
earlier in 1860[2],
it is presumed that his first wife (Susie?) and 2-year old daughter died or left
him and he remarried. Since Francisco
was not living in the same household with Rafael in 1860, it is not clear what
relationship he has with the family.
Remember from a previous post that Dolores Coronado, one of the brothers
shot in 1868, was living in the household with Rafael in 1860.
 |
| Loretto Coronado |
The
census of 1870[3]
records that Loretto and Guadalupe Coronado, 35 years old, and their five
children lived next door to Rafael and his family in Napa. However, in 1875[4],
Loretto, the founder of our family branch, had left the dangers and temptations
of urban life behind and moved his wife and five children to the simpler rural
lifestyle of the hills outside of Yountville.
More about Loretto’s life, his family, his farming, his land and death
in 1887 is available in earlier posts.
Meanwhile the fortunes of Rafael continue to change. The 1880 census[5] documents that Rafael is living alone on Pearl Street in Napa. He is now 62 years old and no longer a saloon keeper but a "laborer".
Meanwhile the fortunes of Rafael continue to change. The 1880 census[5] documents that Rafael is living alone on Pearl Street in Napa. He is now 62 years old and no longer a saloon keeper but a "laborer".
Rafael makes the newspaper one final time in March 1882[6], when he testifies in an arson case where a neighbor, Marine Saldez, was allegedly hired as an arsonist. Rafael testified through an interpreter about his residence being only about 20 or 25 yards from Mr. Saldez residence in Spanishtown. Rafael said that he had seen Mr. Wallingford, the person accused of hiring Mr. Saldez, visit Saldez many times before and after the fire. Although there were no gas lights in Spanishtown, Rafael testified, that on the night of the fire he saw Wallingford bring Saldez home drunk.
This is the last time we hear of Rafael. I don’t know when he died and under what
circumstances and I have no pictures of him.
Now we will leave the possible side branches of the
Coronado family and concentrate in future posts on my great-grandparents
Loretto and Guadalupe Coronado, their children and descendants.
[1]
1870 U.S. Census, Napa, Napa, California, page 53, family 440, digital image,
Ancestry.com from National Archives microfilm M593, roll 75.
[2]
1860 U.S. Census, Napa, Napa, California, page 111, family 884, digital image,
Ancestry.com from National Archives microfilm M653, roll 61.
[3]
1870 U.S. Census, Napa, Napa, California, page 54, family 441, digital image,
Ancestry.com from National Archives microfilm M593, roll 75.
[4]
Loretto testifies in his Homestead Application that he continuously resided on
the land near Yountville since the spring of 1875. See: Homestead Application No. 3874, Final
Certificate No. 2158, Land Office at San Francisco, March 13, 1883.
[5]
1880 U.S. Census, Napa, Napa, California, page 43, family 263, digital image,
Ancestry.com from National Archives microfilm roll 69.
[6]
Napa County Reporter, Napa, California, 25 March 1882, 3:5, accessed by
microfilm at the Napa County Library, Napa, California.
